I have asked this question elsewhere on the web, including at r/ipad, but my question has either been ignored or deleted by moderators. I suspect this question is asked all the time by thieves, so I guess I don't blame discussion groups for not wanting that kind of talk at their forums. So, I thought I'd ask here.
If it's inappropriate here also, I hope mods will delete it or you guys can just tell me and I will edit this post.
I am the legal owner of an iPad that used to belong to my parents. They wrote down passwords for all kinds of other accounts but I couldn't find or guess the passcode to the iPad. Eventually the iPad locked itself due to too many incorrect guesses from me.
Following instructions from Apple that I found online, I downloaded iTunes and installed it on my PC and then used iTunes to re-format the iPad. I forget the exact page where I found these instructions, but it seemed clear enough to me that this would reset the iPad to factory-new and then I could set it up for a family member with their Apple ID and password.
It probably would have worked if I could have gotten into the iPad's settings and clicked on "Erase All Content and Settings". But I couldn't.
Even after re-formatting and updating the iPad through iTunes, it still wants the original passcode before it will let me assign the iPad to a new owner. It is showing me just enough of the original email address that I can tell it was my father's email address, so that seems legitimate. Google searches turn up both free software and software to purchase to "jailbreak" the iPad. I'm suspicious of this because I have no experience in this area and assume these software providers are taking advantage of people's greed to reformat stolen iPads, so they're charging exorbitant prices and/or providing software full of spyware and who knows what else. Or, maybe using their software won't let the iPad work as it should. How? I don't know. I'm just imagining what could happen.
Maybe I'm being paranoid. But that's why I'm asking here. Does anyone have any experience with this? Thanks.